The Comoros beat Tunisia on the road on Saturday, 1 goal to 0. One of the surprises of this 3rd day of the Morocco CAN 2025 qualifiers. In this interview given to Africa Top Sports, Saïd Ali Saïd Athouman, president of the Comorian Football Federation gives us the factors of this success, the ambitions. In all humility! It also addresses the challenges of African football.
ATS: Mr. President, good morning. Your team created the feat in Tunisia during this 3rd day. What was the message given to the players before entering this match?
Said Ali Said Athouman : I was not there in Tunis, but I had several exchanges with the Coach, in particular to encourage him, support him and ask the whole group to be fully focused on preparing for this match. We were aware that winning in Tunisia was not an easy thing, but at the same time, we had to believe in our ability to achieve a good result in such a tough group and whose qualification could be decided for some, on the last day.
When you come to Tunisia, do you believe in such a feat?
To continue to exist in our group and have a chance to qualify, you have to play every match to win it. I think all the teams that participate in the qualifiers have this state of mind, but, of course, there are always great footballing nations in the groups, who are considered favorites. But the charm of football is also the possibility for teams like that of the Comoros to be able to achieve the feat and create a surprise. We had the right to believe in our chances because this is not the first time that we have won against a team reputed to be much stronger than ours.
What was the coach’s message before kick-off?
Not being there but knowing him, he had to ask them to play without complexes, to be aggressive, to attack together, to defend together and therefore to be united throughout the match.
For you, how do you plan to approach this 4th day meeting?
I think we have to approach it with the same state of mind and with the same ingredients that succeeded us on this 3rd day. This match will certainly be more difficult than the first because the Tunisians will want to assert their supremacy in the group given their status as favorites, but we will have to be able to take up the challenge to hope for a good result.
Who are your players who shone against Tunisia?
I think it was the whole team that shone, that fought and respected the coach’s instructions. It is the collective, the spirit of solidarity and the fighting spirit that allowed such a result.
But perhaps we would like to highlight the one who makes the assist and the one who scores the goal.
I would like to congratulate all the players and the entire staff for their exceptional performance.
Do you believe with this victory that you are one of the ogres of African football?
We must remain humble and continue working to progress further and achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. There is still a long way to go to reach the level of the great African nations, especially since we are in the middle of a transition with the arrival of several young players in the team. But we can dream, because they are talented and will gain more experience as the matches go on.
From now on, you are 05 points behind Tunisia. An opportunity to dream of qualifying for the final phase in Morocco?
You have to stay focused until the last day. Nothing has been done yet. Everything moves very quickly in football. You are in first or second place today and tomorrow you may find yourself in last place because there are still 3 matches to play.
President, when you look at the level of African football today. With all these players making clubs shine in Europe, what should we do to raise the level of our local championships and keep our players on the continent?
More financial resources should be mobilized and more training should be provided to technical staff and, in general, all football players. In short, we should further professionalize African football and put in place a strategy at the level of our Confederation and our governments, which would enable the various African countries to be provided with infrastructures which would allow our young talents to fully flourish.
We should encourage the private sector and in particular the large companies operating on the continent, to take an interest in and sponsor football, the most practiced sporting discipline in Africa and a factor of unity and pride for all our populations.
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